Share
Chapter 53
Related chapters
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 54
By now, Dominique and JP are freaking out.Grant points at the laptop. “Shut it down. NOW.”“Calm down,” I tell him.“Calm down?! Calm down?! Your little boyfriend is already here with the FBI in tow! They’re in Paris as we speak!”“This could be a good thing – ”“No, Eve. When finding you is the FBI’s ‘priority number one,’ it’s never a good thing!”“I just meant that we might be able to turn it to our advantage somehow.”“Turn it to our advantage?! They’re going to turn you to their advantage! They’re just like Epicurus – they’re trying to use you to get to me!”I have to admit, it doesn’t seem like he’s wrong.A text box appears on my monitor. Eve? You still there?You just created a bit of consternation on this end, that’s all. Are you here for me, Mailin, or for Grant?I see you stopped being coy about your ‘traveling companion.’ :)He even puts a smiley face at the end of his comment.Cut the bullshit, Mailin. Are you here for me or for Grant?I’m OBVIOUSLY here to get you. But
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 55
Once we say goodnight to JP, Dominique, and Marcel, Grant and I retire silently to our room. Things are so tense that there’s not really a question of us sleeping in the same bed. Grant chooses the one nearest the window, and I take the other. It’s like we’re staking out territory in an endless war.We are undressing for bed – and not in a sexy way, but in a I cannot fucking stand being in the same room with you kind of way – when Grant starts in on me again. “Why are you so upset about me wanting to protect you?”We’re apart from the others for the first time, so I feel like I can finally say what my real objection is. Plus, I’m sick to death of arguing. If we’re going to end it, let’s just end it now.“Because I think you just want to get rid of me and you can’t bear to do it to my face.”“What?! Where did you get that idea?!”“Oh, I don’t know – maybe because I really want to stay here and help you, and all you want to do is ship me off to parts unknown?”“If I wanted to break up w
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 56
He begins by kissing me gently on the lips. After a few seconds of that, he pulls back to smile at me. I smile, too, despite the tears in my eyes. He wipes away the drops that have spilled down my cheeks, his thumb caressing my skin. Then he reaches behind me and pulls me into a hug. I shift my entire body so I can face him, and we just stay like that for a moment – our arms wrapped around each other, our heads resting on each other’s shoulders.He strokes my hair, gliding across it in a calming way before his fingers continue past my bra strap and down my back, where his touch tickles against my skin.The way we are sitting, my legs rest between his. The side of my knee touches the fabric of his underwear, and I can feel his cock, flaccid but still very large, draped off to one side of the seam in his boxers. After about ten seconds of holding me, I can feel the pressure against my leg of his cock starting to grow. Not quite hard yet, but thicker… firmer.He doesn’t do anything, tho
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 57
We’re lying there in the blissful afterglow, snuggled against each other in the tiny single bed, laughing whenever our movements cause the springs to squeak, when a stray thought enters my head.“It is kind of weird that you gambled everything – your career, your fortune – on what’s basically an illegal hobby,” I muse.“Well, it makes me feel alive. Nothing else really does.”Warning bells start going off.“…nothing?” I ask, shocked.He laughs. “Well, what we just did obviously does…”“But nothing else?”I guess he thinks I’m fishing for a compliment, because he tries to kiss me. “Nothing else until I met you.”I straight-arm him and back up to the edge of the twin bed so I can look him in the eye. Something tells me I need to see his eyes when I hear his answer.“Hold on. Nothing makes you feel as alive as being a thief?”He gets an irked look on his face. “Don’t use the word ‘thief.’”“Why not?”“Because it’s cheap.”“Uhhh, and accurate.”“No, it’s not. A thief is somebody who bash
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 58
When I wake the next morning, Grant isn’t in his bed.I feel bitter and tired, and my eyes hurt from crying. I want to apologize just to make all the awful feelings go away – but I don’t even know what to apologize for. For telling the truth? He’s a thief. Period. Yeah, he’s brilliant… charming… incredibly hot… and good-hearted… but he’s still a fucking thief. All those other things don’t cancel out the one. And his denial about it is just so… ugh. He thinks he can cover up his worst attributes by using a fancier name, like a wino claiming he’s a sommelier, or a meth cooker claiming he’s a chemist. Whatever.I dress and go downstairs to the private dining room, where JP is smoking a cigarette and Dominique is playing solitaire. Both of them ignore me.Grant is nowhere to be seen.There’s a platter of croissants and pastries, and a decanter of coffee. I pour myself a cup.“Anybody seen Grant?” I ask.“He is talking to Marcel,” JP says.“…oh.”“I realized something last night,” JP con
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 59
Two hours later, Grant and I are in the backseat of a car with tinted windows. One of Marcel’s men is driving. JP and Dominique elected to stay behind, which is perfectly fine by me.Grant has one of the pistols with him, and keeps it in his hand as he watches the streets of Paris fly by.“Why did you bring the gun?” I ask.“For our little meet-and-greet, of course.”“It’s not necessary. Nothing’s going to happen.”“Well, if it does, we’re prepared.” “I thought you didn’t believe in planning for ‘end of the world’ scenarios.”He shrugs. “You getting kidnapped by the FBI isn’t ‘end of the world.’ More like… ‘hemorrhoids of the world.’”“What?!”He grins. “In other words, a giant pain in the ass.”“What the hell are you talking about?”“It’ll be a giant pain in the ass to get you back, that’s all. But you’re wearing one of your GPS thingamajigs, and you have another one inside you, so – easy peasy, Japanesey, right?” he says mockingly.“If you want me to wear it, why won’t you wear one
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 60
So starts an epic round of ‘catch me if you can.’ Two more times we drive to a location and watch through the telescope as Mailin makes a fool of himself; two more times Grant discards a burner cell phone and we drive to a new vantage point.“Dude, are you going to wise up at some point?” Grant asks on the final try. “‘Cause I can do this all day.”By this point I’ve started listening to Mailin’s voice over the phone. My insides roil with rage every time I hear him speak.“Look, I could lie to you again, but you know what’s going to happen,” Mailin says. “They’re never going to let me meet you alone, no matter how much I want to.”Grant ponders for a moment. “Alright… since the FBI doesn’t have jurisdiction in France and can’t do shit without the local authorities, you can bring one FBI guy other than yourself. Understand?”“Understood. And thank you. Where do you want to meet?”Twenty minutes later, Grant and I are in the Tuileries, a giant public garden near the Louvre. The gardens
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 61
We’re back in the car, with Marcel’s driver speeding us through Paris.“Well, that was pointless,” I mumble. “Sorry I wasted your time.”“Don’t be,” Grant says. “It was worth exploring the option. Now you know.”More than anything, I’m disappointed in Mailin and how he lied to me. My friend sold me down the river. Or tried to, at least – and no amount of sticking up for me in front of Agent Duplass can change that.I’m also uncomfortable with how he’s become one of them. Yeah, Duplass treated him like shit, but Mailin’s joined the other team. It’s beyond obvious. He’s not the high school hacker buddy I used to know.Unfortunately, there’s an uncomfortable parallel there with my own life. I watched Mailin get caught as a teenager. As a result, I’ve walked the straight and narrow ever since. I got my college degree, a pat on my head from society, then a nice, safe job at an internet security firm…Until I met an international art thief and started hacking again.I’m not just talking abo
Latest chapter
